With just hours left before his swearing-in on Thursday, hectic parleys are under way between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. According to media reports, Amit Shah has been making phone calls to BJP leaders who have been selected to be part of the council of ministers.
According to NDTV, Shah has made calls to Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani, Sadananda Gowda, Arjun Meghwal, Kiren Rijiju, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal, Prakash Javadekar, Ramdas Athavale, Jitender Singh, Suresh Angadi, Babul Supriyo, Kailash Chowdhury, Prahlad Joshi and G. Kishan Reddy. They have been invited to the prime minister's home at 5 pm, before the swearing-in.
Ministers selected for oath of office will meet PM Modi at his residence at 4.30pm on Thursday, shortly before the swearing-in ceremony, sources said.
News agency ANI reported that BJP leaders Dharmendra Pradhan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi will be meeting PM Narendra Modi at 4:30pm on Thursday at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MP from Bathinda, and Babul Supriyo, BJP MP from Asansol, are also all set to take oath as ministers on Thursday.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders Piyush Goyal and Bhupender Yadav were seen at Amit Shah's residence in Delhi.
Earlier in the morning, the prime minister held a final round of consultations with BJP president Amit Shah to give shape to his council of ministers before sending the list to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Shah, the architect of BJP's victory of 303 seats in the Lok Sabha, is believed to be among those who will join the Modi cabinet and is tipped to get either home or finance ministry, sources said.
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BJP allies like Shiv Sena, JD(U), AIADMK, LJP, Akali Dal and Apna Dal are set to be represented in the government. Each NDA ally is likely to get one cabinet berth, sources said.
The Shiv Sena has confirmed its leader Arvind Sawant, who defeated Congress heavyweight Milind Deora from Mumbai, will be its nominee in the council of ministers. The Lok Janshakti Party has already passed a resolution recommending its president Ram Vilas Paswan as the party's representative in the Modi government.
The Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel is likely to be in the council of ministers. The JD-U is likely to nominate either Ram Nath Thakur or Santosh Kushwaha, sources said.
The BJP has refrained from making any official comment about the likely members of the government, with its leaders asserting that it is the prime minister's prerogative.
(With PTI inputs)
